Get Android-Certified at DESIGN East

Communications semiconductor powerhouse Qualcomm is coming to DESIGN East this week in Boston to help developers succeed in the hottest new operating system in mobile computing. That'll take place via the show's Android Certificate Program.

Along with the education and training engineers will receive in the program, they'll come away with a DragonBoard Snapdragon S3 APQ8060 mobile development board, provided courtesy of Qualcomm.

The rationale for the certificate program, according to the DESIGN East site, is that many projects are opting for Android. Unfortunately, "except for a few professional trainers and consultants, there are few sources of information for embedded developers who wish to learn Android skills."

That's changing at DESIGN East, where a series of workshops will get developers up to speed. Those completing the program will receive a certificate from UBM Electronics.

There are three sessions in the certificate program. The first, on Monday, Sept. 17, is entitled "Android Jumpstart." This session introduces fundamental concepts required for using Android as the foundation for your next product. Topic coverage includes: the basics of Android application development; partitioning implementations between Android and Linux; real-time considerations; understanding the Android Hardware Abstraction Layer; integrating Android with your custom Linux kernel; device driver, power management, and other best-practice considerations.

The second session, occurring on Wed, Sept. 19, is "Android's Open Accessory Development Kit." That kit is an Arduino or MicroChip-based platform for connecting your Android device to things in the physical world. The course will explain how it works, how you can interface with it, and how it plays into the Android@Home platform.

The final session in the certificate program, "Embedded Android Workshop," is on Thursday, Sept. 20. Using Qualcomm's DragonBoard APQ8060 development board, this session provides hands-on exposure to the most important Android concepts that you absolutely must know before you start your next embedded project. Topic coverage includes: an overview of the DragonBoard hardware and target use cases; modifying the Android initialization sequence; building and updating a modified Linux kernel for DragonBoard; building, installing, and debugging Android and Linux applications.